Amandine Boissel makes this stunning wine from the traditional Gaillac red grape Duras. Organic farming, low intervention winemaking, brilliant results.

This wine does something that many Southwest wines do, something surprisingly rare. It is drinkable – nearly quaffable – and friendly the tannins are pleasantly manageable as they jostle about the palate, but the flavors of this wine are so purely, unremittingly earthy that it’s fair to wonder if they fermented the vine’s roots and clumps of dirt instead of grapes. It smells of pepper, graphite, cedar, cherry, and blackberry. It tastes of clay and more pepper, juicy black cherry and black raspberry. There’s an unspoken agreement of orange oil that sneaks in on the midpalate, and lingers late on the finish. This is rustic elegance at its best.